My name is Chris Pandolfi.

I’m a banjo player, Stringduster, podcaster, producer, writer, session musician and all around creative based in Colorado.

Music was all around me growing up. My grandparents, Frank and Carmela Pandolfi, started the Connecticut Opera Association in 1942. I never met my grandfather, but my grandmother got us playing piano at a really young age. Ultimately inspired by my older brother Jono's musical tastes and exploits, I got my first banjo in the summer of 1997. The next ten or so years flew by. During that time I got my undergrad degree at Dartmouth College and then went on to be the first ever banjo principal at the Berklee College of Music before moving to Nashville, TN in 2004. Along the way I was lucky to work with many amazing people, but ultimately I started a band with great musicians who are also my great friends--The Infamous Stringdusters. We have been touring for about 16 years, have a bunch of albums and an amazing community of fans. The Dusters have 4 Grammy nominations and a Grammy win for 'Bluegrass Album of the Year' in 2018. We strive to make quality original bluegrass, explore the world and enjoy life.

Aside from the Dusters I have a few solo endeavors that keep me busy. TRAD PLUS is a banjo-centric exploration of a different sonic world, combining vinyl samples, drums, synths, strings, beats and much more. I released my first album, Interference, in the fall of 2015, and it's been downloaded over 750,000 times internationally. My latest album, 'TRAD PLUS Presents Trance Banjo' brings together lots of banjo composition along with classical vinyl samples, beats, synths, virtual instruments and more--this was a big moment of conceptual creativity for me! I played and wrote everything on the album except for Stuart Duncan’s unreal fiddle on 2 tracks and my man Nick Falk’s drum contributions - both samples from a library we are building together and a few live tracks. Before these experiments started, I wrote and produced two banjo-centric solo albums (Looking Glass and the Handoff), that feature all original music and some of my favorite acoustic players, including Chris Eldridge, Matt Flinner, Ross Martin, Byron House, Stuart Duncan, the Stringdusters and more. I look forward to getting back to another acoustic album someday soon.

In 2019, I started a podcast called 'Inside the Musician’s Brain.' Now entering its fifth season, ITMB is now a prominent voice in the music podcast world, featuring a wide range of guests including Béla Fleck, Madison Cunningham, Billy Strings, Sarah Jarosz, Oteil Burbridge and many more. It's a deep dive into everything that’s underneath the music and the artists that inspire us, exploring inspiration, creativity, and the many facets of bringing a musical vision to life. I truly love this outlet and have learned so much from it. I also love sharing my thoughts on the Stringdusters world and my journey with music, business and life in general. ITMB is part of the Osiris Podcast Network.

Since moving to Denver, I’ve been working much more as a producer - helping other artists/bands bring their music to life, from the writing phases through recording/mixing, until their bigger vision is realized. It’s challenging, all encompassing work, and I love every second of it. I've worked with a bunch of great bands including The Kitchen Dwellers, The Sweet Lillies, Never Come Down, Clay Street Unit, Trout Steak Revival, Jake Leg, Meadow Mountain and a few others.

In addition to producing, session work and solo endeavors, Andy Hall and I front the Bluegrass Generals--a rotating cast of killer bluegrass pickers that come together for a weekend of music a few times a year. Past Generals include Sam Bush, Molly Tuttle, Billy Nershi, Billy Strings, Sierra Hull, Royal Masat, Paul Hoffman, Ronnie McCoury, Mimi Naja, Larry Keel, Sam Grisman and more. 

One fairly regular topic of conversation on ITMB is the rapidly growing world of bluegrass—something I have been interested for as long as we’ve been playing. Bluegrass is its own world, filled with incredible musicianship and a short but vibrant history of crazy characters, trends and changes. A few of my written pieces about the current state of the bluegrass world reached a big audience via this site, back in 2010. In the wake of that attention the International Bluegrass Music Association asked me to deliver a keynote address at the 2011 World of Bluegrass in Nashville, TN (their annual business conference), giving some real recognition to a new vision of a bigger, more connected acoustic world. Sinice then, I’ve been very involved with IBMA, serving on the board of directors and various comitees. I also explored many of these topics in a recent piece for No Depression's 'Bluegrass Beyond' issue. It's an exciting time for bluegrass, and we look forward to being a part of whatever is next.

I moved to Denver, CO in 2013, a place that has always embraced the Stringdusters. I'm excited to call it home.